All Smiles From Here On Out

I sit before my computer tonight a much more distinguished man. For i am no longer just an ordinary kid going to school- i am now a Hofstra graduate (unofficially) and for the first time i feel the Pride of Hofstra University.  As u might have guessed, the commencement ceremony was today, and baby it was cold outside. It really wasnt the nicest day for a graduation to be held outside but we made it work. The weather actually started out pretty nice, giving everyone the false sense of happiness.  The sun was shinging brightly off my freshly polished shoes as i walked through the side streats of Hofstra University. I had almost a Trovolta like Sat. Night Fever strut going on as i walked into the stadium. Let me back it up a second. I always wanted to step foot on like a big league stadium or field, of course i wanted to do it playing a sport but my homosexual like ability always prhibited me from it. Today was the day i marched onto that hofstra turf with pride and i actaully felt like i deserved to be on that field. Considering the people i was graduating with i could have been some what of an all-star, metaphorically speaking. Anyway, i sat down (i had a sweet aisle seat so i saw every school of business grad pass by on their way to be seated) and i had a smile from ear to ear..more so than usual. Now i didnt even want to go to this damn ceremony but im sort of glad i did. It really allowed me to see the extent of my achievement. Once the president of the school (Dr. Stuart Rubinowitz- god, i love that name) started speaking the rian started and every1 started getting cold and wet.  Hofstra was able to supply us with ponchos and small water bottles and we gutted through the rest of the ceremony. The special guest speaker was the CEO of HBO. He was witty and kept his speach brief which is always a way to get a louder ovation...Senator Chuck Schumer was also in attendance and he one-uped the previous speaker by ripping up his prepared speach (b/c of the rain), and he just wished us all good luck. Then it was time to walk..i saw my friend meg get up there, and i cheered like i was a retarded kid at a wrestling match. Then i saw a few peeps from high school graduate (those people i was quiet for lol). Once it was my turn i took my time, soaking it all up. My slow walk and powerful handshake made me feel euphoric if only for a couple of seconds. It is a big accomplishment since i've been working at it since preschool. I'm only the second Catanzaro in the history of our heritage to obtain a 4 yr degre so its kind of monumental for me. Anywya once my name was called, i took a quick picture ans skipped out on the rest of the ceremony. From there my immediate family and i went out for some gyros and i was home in time to watch the yankees/ mets game. It was a sweet afternoon, the only thing that would have been sweeter is if my lady was there. I guess she didnt feel like coming to the ceremony which was kinda crushing to me b/c i had so much i wanted to tell her..i wasnt gonna tell her that i loved her or anything like that but i was gonna tell her how much meeting her meant to me. How she made me realize that hofstra had more to offer than just out dated lesson plans, and girls with STDs. I called her b4 the ceremony started but she didnt pick up, so i guess im gonna have to write that dreaded email. Ah well, even that couldnt bring me down today.

I also learned that i  passed the class that  i was stressing out about. Not only did i pass i got a C+!!! Now i knoww i didnt deserve that grade but i aint complaining. In fact i wrote my professor a letter thanking him for the grade lol. I aslo got an A in another class that i was expecting a B in. Everything's going right for the first time in my life.

I got my speeding ticket reduced yesterday from 6 pts to 3 and those points will be wiped out in like 2 months. The poiunts are actually a failure to yield rather than speeding so i guess its not a bad deal.

Next week i start my summer class and its gonna be a good 1!!! My teacher isn't an easy grader but his class is simple enough...and i heard from a reliable source he lets everyone out early. So it'll be a pleasure to take this class and then i just have 1 more remaining, Anthroplogy with a mystery teacher. But u know what? Who gives a shit, I FUCKIN GRADUATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thats all i wanted to say today, so study up kids and u too can feel important one day..So next step becomes meeting Puck....in the real world..i cant wait!! Bur first the prom- lol! THE SUMMER OF ECITEMENT HAS BEGUNNNNNN!

What next?

Alright, i have a lot to say so i might be all over the place but just try and stick with me if u can. The running theme is "what next" so if u get it, u get it, if not- dont worry about it.

I'm not in the best of moods tonight cuz i had a really hard final today and im actaully questioning my ability to pass the class. I always strive for a high GPA but some classes are brutal and u just hope to pass.  For me, anything involving math is like kryptonite. I despise it! SO if i can pass ill take whatever grade i can get. A c is my lowest grade i have received at Hofstra but i'm praying for a D. I'm stressing out about this and if i do fail i know its not the end of the world but i will bitch and moan about it like it is. We'll have to see what happens.

Anyway I saw a blast from the past the other day at Hofstra . Erica Downey was getting her cap and gown the same time i was. I always liked Erica as a person. Shes got a sweet and plesant personality, and she would always say hello, which seems stupid but when ur a geek like me it mens a lot. So we got the talking and shes going for her masters in queens and getting married in like 2 weeks and she seems to have everything going for her then she asked me what i've been up to and i was like 'umm i play cards and work at Saf-t-swim". It kind of sounded a lot cooler in my head. I am so eager to start a new chapter of my life because the previous pages might have well have been left blank.

I went to Adelphi's Senior Formal Dance in the Hamptons on Friday night with Angelica from work. It wasn't a date but rather me being nice and going cuz i know she reallly wanted to go plus it was a good way to prepare for the prom.I dint know any1 which i was happy about. The dance itself was ok - ang's friend was cool and her b/f was nice too so i was able to chill with them at times. He got trashed though and i had to take them home once we got back to li...i wasnt happy about that.  A few key notes. 1-  Adelphi is not nearly as nice as Hofstra. 2- Adelphi chix: EHHH! 3- Bon Jovi is still the shit. 4- People don't know when to say when. It was open bar and the night eneded sooo much later than it was supposed to b/c the bus rides were delayed due to some asshole chicks being too drunk to even stand..yelling and screaming at each other. One of the girls had to be physically restrained and eventually escorted of the bus. Everyone was heckling the lushes (including myself) and she left the bus to a standing ovation. Then the bus was delayed again cuz people were smoking on the bus. I swear people are just friggen assholes. All in all the nite was ok but i was fed up cuz it was too long i got home close to 5 am with work at 9.

I'm trying to take off from work on sat. I got a speeding ticket to try and get out of. then i got my graduation the next day so i just wanna chill this weekend. Not to mention i got to find a ledge to jump off of if i fail finance.

You know what i hate: exagerations. Everyone uses them from time to time, i even did it with my last sentance but some people do it too freakin much. I dont wanna name any names here but i have a friend, we shall call him James Herierro just to protect his identity. Well my friend, Mr Herrero, called me one day cuz we were supposed to go to the movies that night. He called me cuz he was stuck at school and he said he had to cancel our plans cuz his cousin, we'll call her Melissa Boffman, (again protecting the identities), was going to pick him up and then go to the hospital to visit his father. He then says to me, u know what forget it- ill go see the movie with you...just come pick me up at school. Well i said no thats alright, to be honest im not comfortable driving to there (cuz i've never driven there before) and i didnt wanna take him away from his family cuz thats more important than a movie (although it was sin city). Anway the conversation ended with him saying to me and i quote: "alright buddy, im sorry i kind of ruined your night". So then i go online and another friend, we shall call him Andrew Zirenda IMs me and asks me to go to the movies..so i said alright, y not...Next thing i know Mr. Herrero is telling everyone within the sound of his voice that i stranded him at school, which is complete and utter hogwash considering he canceled on me. Now i dont wanna start an arguement cuz i know fighting with him his a winless battle plus its not that big of a deal cuz everyone already knows that driving has never been my thing. If he needed me to pick him up at his house and take him somewhere i'd gladly take the trip (i dunno about gladly but i'd do it). Anywya i've spent to much time on this topic already and I still dunno if u really got the jist of the story here.Just know that i hate exagerations and if u find urself exagerating to the point where its become a bold face lie thenu deserve to get slapped in the face with a tube sock filled with loose change. thats all.

I have been eagerly anticipating this summer. I've actally labeled it the summer of excitement because i have only 2 more summer classes (i hope!!!) Than its off to the real world. I have this vision of myself in 10 years walking off the train, pausing, and looking at the big city with a smile on my face and a briefcase in my hand getting ready to work. I als have this vision of getting railed in the ass- because that was one of the gayest statements u'll ever hear from me. But anyway i'm sure my story book dreams will shatter like a glass bottle in a bar room brawl. I know whatever i'll end up doing will not be what makes me happy and ill spend the rest of my life wishing i became a dentist or something. And thats what i fear the most. Money is nice but its not my determining factor. I dont crave big and fancy toys. my dream car is a pt cruiser and when i was a kid i wanted to own a drug store and sell gum rather than most kids who wanted to be an astronaut, pilot, or even president. I just want to go to work and be happy and fuck the rest. As long as i can get by -i'll make it work i just want happiness.

Quick Yankee note- Jason Giambi should be shot in the face with a bazooka! I wish the yankees would sell him for a bag of crackerjacks and a snack to be named later. He's awful, in fact hes below that. Yeah hes got like a 8 game hitting streak but they are some of the most pathetic hits possible. The only hit i'd like to see from him is when he hits the ground after a sniper takes him out at home plate. But toher than that GO YANKS!

I ordered my tux for prom.  Its a standard black tux with a white shirt. I ordered a blue vest but its either dicontinued or some shit so now i gotta go back and pick out another vest..last time i ordered a tux there they f'd up the vest too.

I had my last class with my Hofstra hunny yesterday. It was a very sad occurance, we took our final and she finished first so she said good bye but then we met up again in the comp lab and we said our goodbyes for what could be the last time...tear. SHe said shes gonna find me at graduation and i hope so cuz i have no friends to sit with and id want my last memmories of hofs to be with her. SHe's going to law school in florida after she graduates so it prob. will be the end of a nice realtionship but she meant a lot ot me cuz i thought all hofstra people were assholes till i took retail management. I got stuck in a group with complete opposites but we all clicked and everytime i see those jokers i stop and say hi. they changed my whole hofstra experience, especially her...so i'll be sure to thank her for that when i see her if not she'llbe getting a lengthy email or a phone call - who knows.

I think that pretty much covers the nuts and bolts of whats going on in my life..anything else i'll keep u posted but till then enjoy the summer of excitement..the heat is ON!

A Special Kind of Champion

Rather than give u all my routine "end of semester rant" of how swamped with work i was, i decided to actually get the work done and then comment. I had to do 3 group presentations within 2 days and term papers and tests gallore. It was nutty but then again i've come to expect that at hofstra. I was able to bang out the work in a timely fashion but the presentations always make me nuts.. i usually stress out all week long when i have to do a presentation so with 3 scheduled in 1 week i thought i'd be a bigger wreck then ground zero (i still feel bad about making references to that but its the only wreck that came to mind). But i was actually pretty calm leading up to my presentations. My first presentation was in Advertising. i had to present slides on Gender Ads. It seems like a piece of cake and i was rather confident until i got up there. When reading my part off the slides i was very jittery and started to shake like michael j fox in a tub of cold water (wow im just an asshole today). But i gutted my through it. The next class i had to present on Dell computers. This class required us NOT to read from the slides but instead present confidently only using index cards as a reference. Now again i was nervous as hell but i actually performed ok. The teacher actually commented saying that i seemed confident and was very effective in walking up and down the aisles..the truth was i had so much nervous energy that i could have ran for a mile and if it werent for the discomfort i felt in my feet from my 1989 pair of hush puppies, i just might have. But anywya i muscled through that 1 too. The last presentation would be the one i dreaded the most. My group consisted of slackers..good kids but slackers. I had to be the powerpoint man as well as the group leader and the guy who revised all the papers.This required a lot of work and alone time in the computer lab..not on purpose alone time, my group just likes to set a day and time and not show up..but whatever. When it came time to present..we thought we'd be ok. The first girl to present whose smooth as silk (which is why i loveeeeee her), then she passed it off to this kid named danny. Danny is a funny guy and a good guy but turns out an awful speaker. He starts the presentation then he abbuptly stops excuses himself and walks out the door! I thought he hada go to the bathroom or something. AN overactive bladder can strike at any time and as we all know whenugotta go, u gotta go. It turns out it was nerves and he needed a few MINUTES to recoup. During the first few seconds we all just stand there in shock.Not to mention,  if my nerves werent already bouncing like a basketball in the bronx, believe me they are now. This kid had 1 slide but he was supposed to go on for atleast 3 mins discussing it. So the next girl went, and then Danny was able to come back and do his part. SO when it became my turn i was just thinking get through it- atleast u wont be as bad as Dan the jitter man. But the truth is it calmed me down- seeing that i wouldnt be the worst presenter i was able to read my slides with little to no problems. I still think the project itself is the worst thing i ever put my name on but i feel good about what i was able to accomplish. Now if u were smart u would have seen that this paragraph was going nowhere by the second sentance and u would have skipped it but u didnt, instead u were forced to hear my endeering story of overcoming my fears and triumphing like a true champion over an unlikely opponent, my own damn nerves... i feel like i won a foot race against a bunch of quadrapolegics at the special olympics. Im pathetic.

I'm still not out of the woods yet. I have finals and a term paper still due next week. I'm stilll struggling(although failing is more like it) in finance and i hope to God i am able to pull out a decent grade...like a C.

OK i dont have much else to say but i found something i wrote a few weeks ago in the comp lab and i thought i should share it:

 I really question how much my degree will be worth once i graduate. Now i dont mean to go off on a rant here but it seems as if hofstra has turned into a school for the mentally defecient. I'm sitting in the comp lab next to a few kids that look like they just got off the short bus after a long shift at burger king. Now i know im not the sharpest knife in the drawer but these kids in my graduating class must be plastic spoons or something. It just seems that people are getting progresively stupider.I dont know if its drugs, tv, or rap music but something has turned those minds into the dumpster. I think teachers are somewhat to blame. These college professors sit in front of the class wearing their docker pants and buttoned down shirts resite the same lesson plan that they've been doing since 1983. Guess what? Regan isnt president, USSR disbanded and the spice girls have broken up. Getwith it..oh and nice pants asshole. It wouldnt hurt if these teachers put more thought and more creativity to their lessons. Power point slides and lectures are fine but they can be less entertaining than a upn sitcom. Games and incentives help aid the education process. Obviously im not punking out all these teachers. i've learned a lotfrom teachers who know exactly what they are doing. Obviously not everyone has been challenged mentally instead it looks like they are mentally challenged. Now im not saying i've found an actecdote for education b/c its not going to work for everyone. Kids are going to be rude, disruptive and uncooperative- thats life. But i think the results will be better.